Benefits of a Mobile Field Service App

By Natalie Cheng | Dec 17, 2017

In 2015, a whopping $8 billion was projected to be spent on oil and gas mobile apps along with $168 billion on enterprise mobile applications. According to an Oil & Gas IQ survey of CIOs, IT Directors, and project leaders in the oil and gas industry, the #2 priority for CIOs in 2013 is mobile technology. The emphasis on mobile technology will only grow as more people own smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices. In addition, 55% of CIOs believe that mobile technology will greatly enhance operations, but only 16% have employed a mobility strategy so far. As one can see, people in the oil and gas industry understand that mobile is important, but many have not created a strategy yet. Organizations in the oil and gas industry have a huge opportunity to transform its workflow processes with mobile field service app solutions. It’s been proven that enterprise mobility can help improve communication and collaboration among teams. Here are a few benefits of implementing mobile solutions in the oil & gas industry:

Data Capture: In oil & gas organizations, there are derrick hands, roustabouts, field managers, and geologists working in the field and a number of environmental elements that affect them. It’s not always convenient to carry a bunch of papers or a laptop around when you are trying to record information. Mobile solutions make it easier to capture data from the field quickly and accurately. With a mobile phone or tablet, people in the field can get information easily and spend more time doing other parts of their job which reduces downtime. Workers can also organize and review information better with a mobile device instead of trying to decipher notes written from the field.

Real-Time Information: In drilling and production, real-time information is very valuable. Mobile solutions help in delivering information like pump rate, weight on bit, RPM, and mud viscosity to decision makers who can take that information and turn it into actionable results. The more relevant information a person gets, the more well-informed their decisions will be. Real-time information helps workers get the most accurate information needed, which leads to higher quality results. If production is up or down wouldn’t you like to know in real time?

Location: Smartphones and tablets allow people to identify locations of objects and important resources. Location information is very helpful in keeping track of where your workers and equipment are. If your team is close to a drill site, you will be able to mark down the location via the mobile device. In addition, workers can locate the nearest production engineer when a problem arises just by using a mobile app to quickly alert whichever engineer is closest. Geolocation can improve safety in the field by alerting workers of dangerous areas as well as using geofencing. This is also extremely useful for teams running title early in the exploration process so that they can keep track of various plots of land. Location helps get information to the right people at the right time in the right context. Real-time operational intelligence helps save money and headaches.

Collaboration: Oil and gas organizations are filled with a large number of people that need to work on projects together. In the field, oil and gas engineers face some difficult situations. It’s important that operators, engineers, and other executives collaborate on projects since many organizations operate across different countries. Having a mobile device helps enhance collaboration by giving these people a tool to send real time information and get feedback immediately.

Better Decision-Making: With a mobile app, workers can get the most relevant information on their wells. For example, an app can organize wells with exceptions by its severity and proximity so that workers can prioritize their tasks better. Knowing which well or area to focus on first will increase worker productivity and efficiency.

Organizations in the oil and gas industry will definitely see a transformation of their business processes by implementing mobile solutions that solve real problems. Some of the benefits big producers will see by implementing a mobile app are better ways to capture data, real-time information, geolocation, enhanced collaboration, and better decision-making. Combining all these benefits together will lead to less mistakes, happier employees, and a higher ROI.